Hoover Institution
11/19/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/19/2024 06:34
The Human Authority Needed For Good Schools
The litmus test for a good school is its culture-its caring, energy, mutual trust, and commitment to a common mission. Good cultures require teachers to feel ownership of the classroom and principals to enforce standards and values, while red tape and entitlements undermine the authority and human spirit that are essential. Fixing K-12 education requires stripping away bureaucratic and union controls and empowering educators to build good school cultures.
Key Takeaways
- Many school reforms fail because success is dependent not on better systems but on the energy, emotions, and authority of individual educators.
- Building a good school culture should be the main goal of education policy. This requires giving educators and communities the agency to do things in their own ways.
- Red tape and union controls corrode school cultures by supplanting energy and mutual commitment with rote compliance and entitlement.
The Human Authority Needed for Good Schools by Hoover Institution
About The Author
Philip K. Howard is a lawyer and author focusing on how post-1960s legal structures have disempowered officials and citizens in everyday decision making. Since publication of his 1995 best seller The Death of Common Sense, he has worked with leaders of both major parties to replace red tape with human responsibility. He is the chair of Common Good and has an appointment at Columbia University.
About Hoover Education
Hoover fellows have been and remain at the forefront of education reform research, including school choice and accountability. The Hoover fellowship conducts extensive research in education policy. Specific issues of focus include expanding school choice, boosting American K-12 student achievement, ensuring school accountability, and increasing teacher effectiveness. Hoover's education experts also engage the larger community of state and local policymakers, parents, and other stakeholders to develop solutions that are relevant, meaningful, and actionable.
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Additional Resources
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